Spirit's Chosen (15 page)

“We are in your debt, great and
wise
warrior,” Kaya replied.

Our escort made haste to fulfill his words. Soon we found ourselves in the care of two overawed women who heard “Karasu’s” account of my pilgrimage and my powers and accepted it all without question. We were offered food and drink, and while we refreshed ourselves, one of the ladies sent the guard off to fetch her chieftain husband. He was a wiry man, his tattooed face marked by a thick white criss-cross scar on his left cheek. I glimpsed a sacred bronze mirror at his belt and knew I faced one who was both chieftain and shaman.

“Lady Iyoko of the badger clan, I am Lord Tsuru of the willow people. You honor us with your presence; be welcome,” he said. “I am told that despite your obvious youth, you can command the spirits almost
too
easily to be believed. I am likewise informed that because of your incredible power, you cannot say a single word, for fear that we shall all be buried in a landslide of departed ancestors. What a pity. I was hoping to speak with you directly, not through the mouth of your slave.” He indicated Kaya.

“I am
not
her slave!” Kaya blurted, indignant. “I am her sister, Lady Karasu!”

“So you say,” the willow chieftain replied with a slight smile. “But if your mistress must stay silent, we have only your word on that. What if I choose not to accept it? This clan may be subject to the Ookami, but after their victory, they allowed us to keep our own traditions. One of these dictates that slaves may not eat or spend the night under the same roof as their masters. If we fail to maintain the practices of our ancestors, the gods will punish us, so I am afraid I will have to ask you to take your meals and your rest elsewhere, just to be—”

“That will not be necessary, Lord Tsuru,” I said calmly. “I assure you, she
is
my sister.”

He grinned at the sound of my voice. “Ah, but now the question is: who are
you
? Are you truly Lady Iyoko, the almighty shaman? But I was told she summons swarms of spirits with every breath.” He made a great show of looking all around, then opened his arms in a gesture of confusion. “If you are Iyoko, where are your obedient ghosts? Are you the only one who can see them? Or could it be”—his eyes twinkled—“could it be you are nothing more than a not-so-very-clever liar?”

If he imagined that his childish tactics would make me break down and confess to being a cunning trickster, he was wrong. I remained composed. “My lord Tsuru, forgive my sister,” I said placidly. “She exaggerates my abilities, but she does not lie outright. I am a shaman.”

“And I am a butterfly,” he replied dryly.

“Prove it,” I said with a sharp lift of my chin. “But
before you flap your wings and soar away, tell me what you want me to do to demonstrate that I am what I claim to be. I will do it or become your slave if I fail.”

The willow chieftain chuckled. “You would make a bad slave, Lady Iyoko. You have too much backbone. How would
you
choose to prove that you are a shaman?”

Wordlessly I opened my travel sack and produced the different packets of medical herbs that Master Michio had provided for my journey. I named each one and described everything about it: the best places to find the plant, the most favorable time to harvest it, the illnesses or injuries it would heal and the way to administer it. Last of all, I produced my own bronze mirror and held it out to Lord Tsuru reverently.

“Shall I show you that I know how to use this too?” I asked.

“Put it away, my lady, if you please.” He no longer mocked me. “Pack up all of your things. The sight of them shames me. I apologize for doubting you.”

“My lord, we are strangers here,” I replied. “I don’t blame you for mistrusting us. My father was a chieftain and his first duty was the protection of the clan. It made him more careful than other men, suspicious of anything or anyone that might harm us. So you see, I understand you.”

“And I believe I understand you as well,” the willow chieftain said. “Two young women, traveling alone … Some people would see you as helpless fawns to be hunted, others as meek little mice, to be kicked aside.” He turned to Kaya. “You are very clever, Lady Karasu. Your tales of
Lady Iyoko’s terrifying powers protect the two of you like a turtle’s shell.”

Kaya managed to look demure. “It’s better this way. It keeps me from wasting my arrows.”

That made Lord Tsuru guffaw. “Better to be feared than loved, eh?”

I spoke up again: “If we can’t be respected, yes. We have far to go, my lord, and not everyone we encounter is as good-hearted as you. We must do what we can to take care of ourselves, and to persuade others to treat us properly.”

“Why
are
you traveling like this, Lady Iyoko? Your home must be very, very far away: I have never even heard of your clan until today.”

“Not everything my sister told you is untrue,” I replied. “We are on a pilgrimage. I wish I did not have to leave my home, but if I am ever to find peace and restore harmony to my people, I must complete this journey.”

“And is it also true that your goal lies beyond the lands of the Ookami?”

I nodded. “There was a time when I did not know their name, but when my mind fills with the image of a wolf stealing a child, I know I must track it to its lair and rescue the innocent from its jaws.”

“Ah, a vision!” Lord Tsuru interpreted my words in his own way, and I let him. “The gods have chosen your path for you. They will be obeyed.” He sighed. “I have pretty, young daughters of my own, Lady Iyoko. It pains me to think of you and your sister on such a perilous adventure, but I will try to help you as much as I can. My home is yours; stay with us as long as you like.”

“Thank you, Lord Tsuru,” I said. “We will not take advantage of your hospitality for more than one night.”

“Then we will send you on your way with fresh water, as much food as we can spare at this time of the year, and some advice about the road ahead.”

I smiled. “Food and water are welcome, but advice is a treasure. May the spirits bless you and your clan, my lord.”

We passed a peaceful night among the willow clan. Our presence drew a throng of the curious who surrounded their chieftain’s house, hoping to catch sight of us, or should I say of
me
, the “deadly dangerous” shaman. The guard we first encountered had wasted no time to scurry all around the village with the tale of my powers. How he must have loved the attention he got for being the bearer of such a hair-raising story! When I stepped out of Lord Tsuru’s home to greet the people, all of the women and most of the men shrieked, moaned, and begged me not to say a single word, for fear that I would call up the dead. Even when Lord Tsuru reassured them that they had nothing to be afraid of, rumor overruled him. I resigned myself to a silent visit.

Dawn found us back on the road. Kaya and I were both in high spirits, and the beautiful spring weather added to our cheer.

“It worked!” Kaya exclaimed, dancing along the path. “It worked, it worked, it
worked
!”

“What worked?”

She looked at me as if I’d grown horns. “Your
plan
, silly. What do you think I’m talking about? It was brilliant. I can’t wait to try it again at the next village! ‘Bewaaaaaare
the invincible, indescribable, incredible shaman Iyoko! Her spells bind both the living and the deeeeeead!’ ” She chortled. “I wonder if we should try telling that to the Ookami and scare them into releasing your brother
and
all the rest of their captives?”

“Why not?” I replied, straight-faced. “I’ve always wanted to know what it’s like to have a spear stuck through me.”

Kaya made her finest
Lady-Badger-is-fed-up-with-you
face. “I wasn’t
serious
.”

“I know.” I threw one arm around her shoulders. “But wouldn’t it be wonderful if it were that simple to save Noboru!”

“Maybe it will be,” Kaya said hopefully.

I shook my head. “The Ookami are strong, and the strong are not so easily frightened. In the time since Ryu’s father invited mine to unite our clans, their rule has spread over the land like a water stain on silk. Lord Tsuru’s clan is only one of many they’ve conquered. Some gave up without much of a struggle, like the willow people. They lost their freedom and have to pay heavy tribute to the Ookami, but aside from being forced to tear down their watchtower and surrender most of their weapons, they lead their old lives.”

Kaya became thoughtful. “Himiko … do you ever regret that your father refused to ally your people with the wolves?”

“If that idea ever comes to me, it dies quickly. Father had good reason to reject the Ookami offer. He didn’t trust them. They were too … hungry. He didn’t want our clan to be their friend today, their prey tomorrow.”

My friend considered this, then asked: “When they
did attack your clan, do you think he should have acted like Lord Tsuru and surrendered? It would have spared lives and the Ookami probably wouldn’t have destroyed as much of the village. Your people could have gone on living as they were, and your family—”

“No.” I cut her off, my face grim. “We might have pretended that everything was as it used to be, but the truth? The truth would be that the Ookami could show up at our gates at any time, demand anything they wanted—crops, animals, people—and get it. Think, Kaya: Lord Tsuru said he had young and pretty daughters, but where were they? The willow folk are the wolf clan’s slaves in everything but the name. They put their necks under Lord Ryu’s foot docilely. We fought to stay free.”

“But you lost,” Kaya said in a small, compassionate voice.

“Yes.” I looked past her, back in the direction of my village, my family, my people. “For now.”

The road we followed changed, taking us deeper into the mountains. The weather was mostly fair, but not always kind to us. More than once we had to take insufficient refuge from wind and cold and rain. There were days when Kaya’s arrows provided plenty to eat and other times when we had to be content with half-empty bellies. There were nights when we slept as peacefully as though we were in our own homes and others when evil dreams disturbed us, when we were kept awake by the sounds of prowling creatures, and when we awoke with the aching bones of grandmothers.

I lost count of the days we traveled. Lord Hideki had admitted he was only guessing about how long it had taken him to reach the Ookami lands. Lord Tsuru had little useful information to add. He had never ventured farther from home than the range of a hunting party. All of his knowledge concerning different clans came to him secondhand, from the stories other people told him. When Kaya and I did encounter settlements along the way it was either thanks to Lord Hideki’s memories or by pure chance.

“I could get used to this,” Kaya said as we left another village behind. “I forgot how good it is to sleep with a roof over my head.”

“Well, I hope you’ll remember that when we return,” I said playfully. “Yari will be pleased to know his new wife won’t be running off into the forest on any more hunting trips. She’ll stay right where she belongs, taking care of her house and her husband.”

“Ha! I’ll leave that to Yari’s
junior
wife, thank you very much,” Kaya replied. “I’d rather put up with a little discomfort when I’m out making a kill than a lot of bother cooking it!”

Whenever we stayed the night in a village, we did so using the names that I had created for us before we approached the willow clan. We became so accustomed to introducing ourselves as “Lady Iyoko” the shaman and her sister, “Lady Karasu,” that I frequently found myself calling Kaya by her false identity when we were on a rocky trail or crossing a mountain meadow. If Kaya teased me about it, I reminded her that she did the same thing to me.

“I suppose it’s a good thing, all in all,” I remarked. “Better to call you Karasu by accident out here than to slip up in some village and call you by your real name. That could be disastrous.”

“Oh, it wouldn’t be so bad.” Kaya shrugged off all the consequences of having our true names revealed. “You’d find a way to explain and excuse it. You’re getting very good at such things, Iyo—Himiko.”

Getting better at telling lies?
It wasn’t a pleasing thought. I consoled myself by reviewing how many aspects of our ongoing deception were the truth:
I
am
a shaman and this journey
is
a pilgrimage … of sorts. It’s not wrong to introduce Kaya as my sister, even if we weren’t born that way. When orphaned children are taken in by new families, don’t they call their adopted kin brother and sister? And ever since we visited the willow clan, Kaya stopped talking about me as though I’ve always got one foot in the spirit world and a handful of ghosts! So really, the only actual falsehood is our names, and that’s a necessary deception, for our own protection. We have nothing to be ashamed of after all
.

I wish I could have believed that.

One afternoon, I saw a marvelous sight: plumes of white smoke rose from the hillside above our trail, wispy threads twining upward into the sky where rainbows played between them.

“Look, Kaya!” I cried, pointing. “Those must be the hot springs.”

“What hot springs?” my friend asked.

“Oh, that’s right, I never told you, did I? Lord Hideki mentioned them to me, but his passage through these
mountains wandered much more than ours. I assumed he’d found them while exploring a far-off trail. I never expected to see them this close to our path!”

Kaya shaded her eyes and gazed uphill. “They don’t
look
that close.” She dropped her hand and grinned. “But they
do
look interesting. Do you think we should try to see them closer?”

“I think we should do more than that,” I replied. “We’ll have to make camp fairly soon anyway. We might as well do it up there.”

It wasn’t too difficult to reach the springs. A narrow game trail brought us there. They lay in a clearing where the steaming water formed a wide pool overshadowed by a rock ledge. Plants thrived all around, from lowly mosses to towering pines. I inhaled deeply, relishing the taste of mountain air that was fragrant with evergreen, tangy with the breath of earth itself.